Recovery
by crazileigh
Summary: Alternate universe. Nina's not the mole and Teri's not dead. After the incredibly long day, Jack, Teri, Nina and Tony resolve and recover. Jack/Teri and Tony/Nina. Jack/Nina friendship
1. Prologue

Prologue 

Yes, I am positively insane and feel an utter compulsion to go around changing the '24' universe. Don't ask me why. I started liking '24' over the summer (again, don't ask) and I watched the DVD's and I loved all the characters (except Kim, so she's not in this fic that much) and I went nuts when both Nina and Teri went away. So here's a completely alternate universe on what could have happened if Nina wasn't the mole and Teri wasn't dead. Enjoy!

Summary: After the incredibly long day, Jack, Teri, Nina, and Tony resolve and recover. Jack/Teri and Tony/Nina. Jack/Nina friendship.

Disclaimer: don't own them, and if I did, Nina wouldn't have been the mole and Teri wouldn't be dead. In case you hadn't already figured that out.

11:47:58…11:47:59…11:48:00 pm:

Nina breathed a sigh of relief. Jack was ok. So was Kim. And they were coming back. The Drazens were dead, and their long day would soon be over. Nina caught Tony's eye and grinned. He grinned back. 

Teri came over to her. "Mr. Mason says Jack and Kim are on their way back."

Nina nodded. "They are, and they're both safe. They should be here in about 10 minutes."

Teri let out a deep breath. "Oh, thank god." She looked back at Nina. "Are you sure?"

Nina smiled. "Positive. They're definitely going to be ok this time."

Teri smiled back. "Thank you. For everything."

Nina nodded. "It's not a problem. Really." Teri smiled again and walked away.

Tony came over to Nina. "You ok?" he asked softly as he stood behind her and began to massage her shoulders. 

Nina closed her eyes as she relished the human contact. "Mmm-hmm. It's been a really long day. I just want to go home."

"That can be arranged." Tony whispered softly into her ear, and she shivered in agreement.

"Mom!" Their gentle exchange was interrupted by Kim rushing into CTU and into her mother's arms. Teri hugged Kim tight and murmured "l love you, I love you." 

When both of them had calmed down enough Kim looked around. "Where's Dad?"

"He's on his way honey. He should be here in a few minutes." Teri reassured her quickly.

As if he had heard them, Jack came in. "Dad!" Kim cried as he raced over to them and pulled both of them into his embrace, one in each arm. "Shhh, shhh, it's ok, I'm here, it's over. Nothing's going to happen anymore." Most people in CTU respectfully looked away as the family had their tearful reunion. Tony had returned to his desk.

When the Bauers had calmed down Mason approached them. "Jack, you're definitely going to have to be debriefed. It should take about half an hour. Your family can wait for you or we can take them home."

"We'll wait." Teri said firmly.

Mason nodded. "Ok, Jack can you go to Holding Room One? I'll be there in a second." Jack reluctantly let go of his family and disappeared down the hall. Mason headed toward Nina's desk. "Tony," he called the young man over. "I need both of you to fill out the paperwork and get the correct story to the press. Just make sure you tell them the truth. I'm going to debrief Jack now, so tell them you'll have more information in 45 minutes." He looked at both of them. "I know you guys have been through hell today, so just hang on about an hour longer, and then you can go home. Thanks for all your work." 

Tony scowled at Mason's retreating form. "'We'd like to thank you for your hard work, but we can't let you go home and sleep,'" he mimicked. He glanced down at Nina. "Think you can still wait another hour?"

Nina stretched. "Maybe."

Tony grinned. "I'll take the paperwork, you can take the press."

"Thanks ever so much," Nina growled sarcastically.

"See you in an hour."

Nina grinned. "See you."

11:59:58…11:59:59…12:00:00 am

Here's the first chapter! I hope everyone likes it! The ships are kind of obvious and they aren't going to change, so don't ask me to change them. This is my first '24' fic so please be nice. And review!

-anna-k


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One 

Sorry the last part was so short, everyone! Count on most of the chapters being longer. I just want the say that this fic is probably going to focus more on Nina and Tony, cause there are so few fics about them. And I'm making Mason be a slightly less cold-hearted character. But I'm not going to neglect Jack and Teri, so don't worry. And if anyone has a really good name for Jack and Teri's baby, put them in my reviews! I'm not guaranteeing that I'm going to use them, but… And it's going to be a boy, so put boys' names. 

12:52:31 am

Tony stretched lightly as he watched the Bauers leave CTU to go home. Lucky them, he thought, as he finished up the paperwork, and glanced up to see Mason coming toward him. "You done yet, Tony?"

            "Just about." To tell the truth, he was stalling; Nina hadn't come back from her second briefing of the press yet.

            "Ok, well as soon as you're done, you can leave."

            "Ok." Tony turned his attention back to his paperwork.

            Mason cleared his throat. "Listen, Tony…good job today. You guys really pulled through. And I guess I'm sorry for not trusting you."

            Tony nodded. "It's ok. Don't worry about it," he told him, even though he did kind of want him to worry about it. "Just promise me that Green isn't going to come back here anytime soon."

            Mason grinned. "Don't worry about it," he echoed Tony's words, then got up. "I'm leaving."

            "Ok," replied Tony, his attention already wandering away as Nina had just returned from her briefing of the press. He was about to get up to go talk to her, but stopped when he noticed Jack returning inside and going over to Nina's desk, still limping slightly despite the medic's care. He leaned over and was speaking to Nina in a low voice, as Nina nodded, then shook her head. Then Jack got up and came over to Tony's desk. 

            "Hey Tony. I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for me and my family today."

            Tony nodded. "No problem."

            "Of course it was a problem," Jack corrected. Tony lowered his eyes. "Come on, Tony. Did both Mason and Green talk to you?" Tony still didn't answer. "When they were wondering where I was, what kind of deal did they offer you and Nina? Nina didn't tell me."

            For the first time, Tony spoke. "Well, if she doesn't want you to know, then I'm not going to say anything, either." Jack simply looked at him, until Tony sighed. "Green said that whichever one of us spoke first would be home free, and they other one would be prosecuted and discharged. She talked to me first, and gave me ten minutes to think about it. She had just come back in when you called her."

            Jack's dark eyes clouded. "Trust me, I'm going to have a little chat with her when I get back." Tony nodded, his face completely impassive. Jack started to walk away, then turned back. "I almost forgot, you and Nina have tomorrow-I mean, today-off. Can you tell her for me?"

            "Sure," Tony replied as Jack started to walk away again. He then got up and walked over to Nina, who was leaning back in her chair, her eyes closed. Tony began to massage her shoulders again. "Jack says we've got the rest of the day off."

            "Mmmm, good," Nina replied. "Let's go home."

            "Where's home," Tony asked quietly.

            "Anywhere you are," Nina murmured in reply.

            "Then let's go." Tony stood up, offering Nina his hand, and pulled her up. Together, they left CTU after their incredibly long day.

---

            Tony lay in bed, on his stomach, his face turned to the side so it wasn't buried in the pillow, one hand draped across Nina's stomach, just watching her sleep. She had earned some sleep. He noticed a small, red bruise on her chest. It wasn't the first time he had seen it; he first noticed it when she changed while they had been interrogating Jamey. He carefully brushed his thumb over it, causing Nina to wince and stir, finally opening her eyes. She looked at him and followed his eyes down to the bruise. "Want to tell me about that?" he asked gently.

            Nina twisted in bed, and refused to meet his eyes. Tony patiently waited, until finally she spoke. "When Jack and I left, and he said that thing about going to division, what did you think?"

            Tony was honestly quite startled with this reply. "I didn't think you were going to division."

            Nina nodded. "We were in his office, and I think Gaines was talking to him, and he pulled a gun on me." Tony sat up straight and stared at her, slightly afraid of where this was going. "He pulled a flak jacket over me so he could hide the gun, went out and gave that line about going to division, and took me…I don't know where and shot me." Tony growled and immediately began to check her for any other injuries. "Tony, Tony, I'm fine." Nina grabbed both his wrists and made him look at her. "I'm fine," she repeated. She swallowed hard, and Tony could see that she was having trouble continuing, so he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. She shuddered, and continued, "When he pulled out the gun and put the jacket on me, I didn't realize it was flak, I didn't realize it until after he shot me. Oh god, Tony, I really thought he was going to do it," she whimpered. 

Tony couldn't think of anything to say to comfort her, so he simply held her tighter. "Ok, don't worry, it's all over now."

Nina swallowed. "No, Tony, when he took me out there, and I realized he was going to shoot me, I kept thinking about you, just you, and how you probably thought that I had gone off with him, and…I really didn't want you to think that."

Tony nodded. "I didn't think that."

Nina looked up. "You didn't?"

"Nope, I saw the security tape from Jack's office, but by then I had no clue where you were. God, Nina, that scared the hell out of me."

Nina sighed. "Tony, I have something to tell you."

Tony didn't need to ask what it was. "Yeah, I have to tell you that too." 

Both of them looked at each other, each wanting to hear what the other had to say, but neither wanting to put themselves on the line first. 

Finally Tony spoke again: "on the count of three, we'll say it." Nina nodded. "One, two, three."

"I love you." The words that both of them spoke displayed the feelings they hadn't truly realized until that day. 

Nina sighed and curled up beside Tony. "Say that again," she murmured.

"I love you," Tony replied. "I love you. I. Love. You." He punctuated each word with a kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around Nina, who relished the comfort. Then, finally, each of them let sleep overcome them.

So here it is! Please review! Cause when people review, I know that people are reading this, and I write faster. And kudos to everyone who reviewed the first chapter/prologue! Just to clear something up, this is going to be FLUFFY! I love fluff, and if you don't, go stand in the corner. But not really. But just so you all know, there aren't going to be any deaths, or miscarriages, or kidnappings and whatnot. Just so we're clear. 

-anna-k


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two 

Here's the second chapter everyone! Sorry it's taken so long, but I was away all Thanksgiving weekend, so I couldn't write anything. 

            Driving down the street, Jack found that trying to watch the road and glancing at his family at the same time was very difficult.

            Teri reached out and took his hand. "You ok?"

            Jack smiled. "Yeah, I'm just glad it's over."

            "Ditto," piped up Kim from the backseat.

            Jack and Teri both chuckled, as they pulled up to their house they had left over twenty-four hours ago. Kim jumped out of the car and ran up to the doorstep. "Come on, I need to get inside."

            "So you can get in bed and rest up for school tomorrow?" Jack asked, and then laughed at the horrified look on Kim's face.

            "I really don't have to go to school tomorrow, do I?" Kim asked. 

            Teri smiled as Jack slipped his arm around her waist. "We'll see," she told her daughter. "Right now I suggest we get some sleep."

            Kim nodded slyly. "Well, we know at least _I'll_ be sleeping," she said, smirking at her parents.

            "Kim," Teri said warningly as she unlocked the door.

            "What?" Kim asked sweetly as she walked past them into the house. "Can you honestly tell me that you aren't going to make up for the night that you missed?"

            "Go to bed," Jack playfully ordered his daughter. 

Kim came over and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Dad. Good night, Mom," she added, hugging her mother as well.

"Good night sweetie," Jack replied.

"I love you," Teri said.

"I love you, too," Kim replied as she disappeared into her room.

Jack grinned as he pulled Teri into him, wrapped both his arms around her waist and kissed the corner of her mouth. "So, are we really not going to make up the night we missed?"

"More like we're going to celebrate the fact that we all got out of there alive."

"Or I'm going to demonstrate how much I love you," suggested Jack with a smile.

---

            "Do you think it's going to be a boy or a girl?" Jack's voice broke the easy silence.

            "Hmm?" Teri asked, opening one eye and turning her head towards him.

            Jack gently rubbed his hand over her stomach. "Do you think the baby's going to be a boy or a girl?"

            Teri thought for a moment. "A girl. Just so we can outnumber you three to one," she teased.

            "Yeah, but if they both team up on me, I think I'm going to be able to score some sympathy votes with their mom," he chuckled as he rolled on top of her and snuggled against her for a moment.

            Teri yawned. "What do you think the baby's going to be?"

            "Don't know, and I don't really care, just as long as it has ten little fingers and ten little toes."

            "And, you know, good health in general," Teri added.

            Jack rolled his eyes. "That's what I meant." He leaned over and kissed the soft spot under her ear as Teri yawned. "You should get some sleep."

            Teri grinned at him. "That's slightly hard to do while you keep distracting me," she murmured.

            Jack sighed and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her and she settled her head in the crook of his neck. "Go to bed," he told her, kissing the top of her head. "Good night."

            Teri yawned again. "I love you," she whispered as she drifted off to sleep, but was awake long enough to hear Jack's reply:

            "I love you, too."

I know this was a really short chapter, but it's because I'm going to mostly focus on Tony and Nina, but I couldn't just abandon Teri and Jack! So they're going to be side characters in this fic. And there's going to be a little angst coming, so be warned! And I've only had one suggestion for Jack and Teri's baby! I need boys names! Oh, and review!

-anna-k


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three 

Kudos to twin*muse and to Imaj Inaya for their great suggestions for Jack and Teri's baby! I've narrowed it down to three, but I'm not telling what they are. If you've got more great suggestions, stick them in your reviews (and let's have some new people review, shall we?). 

Sorry I haven't written in **FOREVER**, but I was delayed thanks to my computer breaking down (twice!) and a serious case of writer's block. More chapters will come quicker, I swear on my collection of '24' DVD's (heh).

Summery: if you don't know it, go back and read the prologue.

Disclaimer: don't own them. It's a very painful reality.

------

            Jack slammed down the phone with a slight sense of satisfaction. He glanced down from his office, and saw that Tony had recently come in. Alone, he noticed. Picking up the phone, he dialed Tony's cubicle.

            "CTU, Almeida," was Tony's response as he answered.

            "I think Division's going to have to be pretty desperate if they send Green over here anytime soon." 

            Tony grinned and nodded at Jack's office. "Thank God."

            Jack considered asking him if Nina had come in with him, and then decided against it. He had become slightly better friends with Tony during the past 48 hours and he didn't feel like pushing it. They had pointless conversation for about 30 seconds, and then hung up. Jack began to walk away from the window when he saw Nina come in. She had a secretive smile on her face, and Jack didn't miss the way her eyes lit up when she saw Tony, who in turn grinned when he saw her. Jack shook his head with a smile, not very surprised, and headed to the mass amounts of paperwork on his desk.

------

            A few hours later, Jack was interrupted when he heard his phone ring. 

"Mason's here, and he's demanding to speak with you." Nina dryly told him. 

Jack sighed. "Send him up."

A few moments later, George Mason was at the door. "Hey Jack," he said opening the door and shutting it quickly. 

"You better have a good reason for being here. You scare my staff every time you show up now." Jack informed him. Mason showed no hint of emotion. Jack frowned. "What's going on?"

Mason sighed. "I could loose my job for telling you what I'm about to tell you."

Jack was very surprised; mostly that Mason would come there with the knowledge that he could loose his job. "What is it?"

"Well…Tony and Nina are seeing each other." Mason looked at Jack for a reaction.

Jack simply shrugged. "Tell me something I don't know."

"You're ok with it?"

"Yeah, there's no law against it."

"No, but the people at Division don't look too highly on those who fraternize with coworkers."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Why are you telling me this?"

Mason sighed again. "Someone from Division had Tony and Nina tailed last night."

"Who?"

"I don't know."  
            "Why were they tailed?"

"On the off chance that they're as stupid as they look!" Mason cried, exasperated. "But the point is that someone at Division knows about them, and while they can't fire them, they're going to make sure that one or both of them is transferred out of this office to somewhere where it doesn't matter what they hell they're doing."

Jack sighed and began to pace. "That's stupid. Someone at Division has a grudge against me, or them, or both. Who would do that?" Frowning, he realized something. "Green?" he asked Mason. 

Mason shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know."

"Can you find out?"

Mason raised an eyebrow at Jack. "I know it may not seem so right now, but I do like my job a little bit. If I look around for this person, someone's gonna find out and you'll lose your only ally. I can look, but I'll have to do it subtly and it'll take awhile."

Jack nodded in understanding. Then another thing crossed his mind. "Should I tell them?"

Mason paused. "I don't know; they don't work for _me_."

Jack nodded. "Thanks for coming by, George."

Mason nodded. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news," he replied, still in his slightly cold-hearted manner. You can't expect someone to change that drastically overnight, Jack thought dryly.

"George," Jack called as Mason reached the door. He walked over and stuck out his hand. "Thanks for the warning." Mason shook his hand, nodded, and he was gone. Jack walked over to the window and looked out, watching Tony and Nina work. Only someone who was looking for them could see the stolen glances at each other. Jack sighed, yet again, and went back over to his desk, and picked up the phone. "Tony, could you come up here please? I gotta talk to you."

A few moments later Tony appeared in his office. "Sit down," Jack indicated a chair. Tony merely raised an eyebrow. Jack nodded in understanding and perched on the edge of his desk. "Mason just came in here and told me you had been tailed last night." Jack watched as Tony struggled to contain his emotion at this new bit of information. "You and Nina," he clarified gently.

Tony struggled with this, his face contorting with emotion, until he finally managed to reply: "Who?"

"I don't know- Mason says he's gonna look into it but it will probably take awhile."

"What are we gonna do?"

Jack was startled at this question. "You tell me." Tony met Jack's eyes for the first time. "I'm not going to tell you to stop seeing each other, but I'm just going to warn you that this could quite possibly result in one of you being transferred, probably far away, and you aren't going to be looked highly upon."

"What about you?" Tony asked quietly. 

Jack shrugged. "As far as everyone else goes, I don't know about it. Don't worry about me," he added when Tony opened his mouth to rebut that. "The question is: what are _you_ going to do about it?"

Tony closed his eyes. "I honestly don't know." He opened them again. "I can't make this decision by myself."

Jack nodded; he didn't have to ask what Tony meant. "Do you want me to tell her?"

Tony shook his head. "No, I'll tell her."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. "Because you'll have to do it somewhere private and-"

            "I'm sure," Tony replied firmly; he was quite adamant about this decision. "I'll tell her tonight."

------

            At the end of the day, the dim lights in CTU seemed even dimmer, as Tony got up and went over to the men's bathroom, which began his and Nina's process of preparing to leave together. He lifted the flap of his cell phone and dialed the number he knew by heart.

            Nina heard the ring of her cell phone, and, seeing Tony not at his desk, didn't have to guess who it was. "Myers," was her traditional clipped answer.

            "Let's drive home separately tonight," Tony quickly cut to the chase. "I'll come over about an hour later. I need to talk to you about something important."

            Nina wanted to protest, but couldn't do so very well at her cubicle, so she got up and headed toward the coffee machine. "Well if it's important, let's talk now, or soon."

            Tony shook his head vigorously. "No, we have to be extra careful tonight."

            Nina raised her eyebrows, not liking the sound of this. "I hope this doesn't have anything to do with Jack."

            Tony bit his lip, knowing she'd suspect something until he told her. "Not exactly."

            "What the hell does that mean?"

            "I can't tell you now," Tony replied. "You're really going to have to wait, and trust me on this one."

------

            Nina had been trying to read for the past forty-five minutes, with little success. Tony had sounded tense on the phone, and it worried her. He generally never hesitated to tell her what was going on, or to share what he was thinking, to the point where it could be annoying. But the one time I actually wants him to, he stays silent, she thought ruefully. He'd promised to tell me, and he should be here pretty soon, Nina thought as she glanced up at the clock and curled back up on her armchair with her book. 

            Almost instantly, the doorbell rang. Nina sprang to the door, and opened it to reveal Tony standing on the other side. Before she could say anything, he bent down and kissed her gently, yet affirming she was there. After a few moments, he pulled away, and rested his forehead against hers. She kept her eyes closed, and her breath came in and out slowly, and slightly heavily. 

            "Aren't you going to ask me to come inside?" Tony asked, a small smile dancing on his face. "Or do we have to stay here?"

            Nina grinned in reply, and moved out of the doorframe and into her apartment, stepping aside so he could come in. "What's all this about?"

            Tony winched slightly, wishing that she hadn't reminded him. He was slightly grateful to himself for calling her earlier, otherwise he may have been tempted not to tell her at all, but to pass on the burden to someone else (specifically Jack). But he knew that she needed to hear it from him.

            So he took her hand and led her over to the armchair, and she sat down in it, now visibly concerned. Tony began to pace in front of her. "Stop pacing," she ordered softly. "You'll wear out the floor." Tony made no indication that he had heard her. "Tony, tell me what's going on."

            Tony sighed and stopped pacing. "I need to tell you something, and I need you not to say anything until I'm done." Biting his lip, he continued. "Last night, when we went home together, somebody at Division had us tailed. That's what Mason came and talked to Jack about today. He found out about it, but he doesn't know who it was. That's why Jack called me up to talk to me, and I told him I'd tell you." Why was it becoming so much more difficult than he thought it would be to tell her? "Jack says…he says he's not going to make us stop seeing each other, because he isn't even supposed to know about it, but he says that if it keeps up, one or both of us is probably going to be transferred." He stopped and looked at her, wondering what she was thinking, waiting for her reaction. 

She was surprisingly calm, but slowly, her features began to twist into a frown, and she looked up at him. "What are we going to do?"

Tony was surprised. He was used to Nina being the strong, cool-headed one. The one who always thought things through and had the answer. He shook his head. "I don't know."

Nina sighed. "I think we should take the night and think about this." She didn't look at him.

Tony nodded in agreement. "Good idea." His first instinct was to bend down and kiss her before he left, then decided against it. Nina still wasn't looking at him. 

He opened the door. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," Nina whispered to his turned back as he left. Curling up in the armchair, she waited until the door had closer before she began to cry.

BWAHAHAH! I left you all a cliffhanger!!!!!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys ROCK! And super thanks to those who sent me emails, they really helped my get off my writer's block and supported me when my computer was at the computer doctor.

-Crazileigh


End file.
